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The attack was brutally efficient – beginning at 9:52 a.m. and ending with the officer’s fatal shot at 9:54 a.m. – but authorities said none of the injuries were life-threatening and a quick response by police and university officials prevented further bloodshed.

Thousands of students and faculty members received text alerts within minutes of the attack, warning them to take shelter and to “run, hide, fight” if they encountered the assailant.

Rudy Langenkamp, an Ohio State freshman, was on his way to biology class when he saw people running toward him from the direction of Watts Hall, where the crash and stabbings occurred.

“I booked it out of there,” he said.

Other students spent about 90 minutes locked in their dorms or classrooms, texting friends and nervous parents, waiting for police to finish scouring the crime scene to make sure no one else was involved in the attack.

When the all-clear came, police said security cameras at several locations showed Artan was alone in his Honda as he drove around campus in the moments before he slammed into the crowd.

What they didn’t know, or wouldn’t discuss late Monday, was why they believe Artan did what he did.

When asked if Artan had contact with terrorists or may have been motivated by them to commit an attack, Columbus Police Chief Kim Jacobs said investigators had not ruled out the possibility.

Police said they are working with the FBI and would obtain search warrants and talk to anyone who might have information about Artan and the attack.

It’s not known what clues, if any, Artan may have left behind. But he told Ohio State’s student newspaper, The Lantern, earlier this year that he was concerned about expressing his Muslim faith openly on campus.

“This place is huge and I don’t even know where to pray,” Artan told the paper, which published the interview as one of its profiles on new students. “I wanted to pray in the open, but I was kind of scared with everything going on in the media.

“If people look at me, a Muslim praying, I don’t know what they’re going to think.”

He said he was studying logistics management and had just completed his other studies at nearby Columbus State Community College. A school spokesman said he graduated from the college with honors in the spring of 2016 and had no record of behavioral or disciplinary issues during his time there.

Artan was born in Somalia and was living in the United States as a legal permanent resident, according to multiple news outlets citing law enforcement officials. It’s unclear when he came to the United States.

Residents in Artan's Columbus neighborhood described him as respectful and kind.

“He used to stop in every day,” said Jack Ouham, a Moroccan immigrant who owns a convenience store called Hometown Market. “He didn’t smoke, didn’t drink. He was very respectful, very educated.”

Ouham said Artan was the third oldest of the seven children in the family. He said Artan had said that he was born in Kenya, possibly in a refugee camp after the family fled civil war-torn Somalia.

Darla Neises, 36, of Columbus, worked with Artan at a nearby retail store.

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Alan Plotts embraces his wife, Elizabeth Riter, a student advisor, who was in Watts Hall on Ohio State's campus when the attack on pedestrians began on the campus of Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio. Rite kept in touch with her husband through text messages while locked in her office. Jessica Phelps, The Advocate, via USA TODAY Network

Abdul Razak Ali Artan, an 18-year-old from Somalia, was featured in the Ohio State University's student publication, The Lantern, on August 25, 2016. The feature was, "Humans of Ohio State". Artan talked about being Muslim and finding a place to pray. Police say Artan drove his car into a group of people at Wexner Hall and then proceeded to attack people with a butcher knife. Kevin Stankiewicz, The Lantern, via USA TODAY Network

Police cover the body of a suspect outside Watts Hall on the campus of Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio, following an attack on campus that left several people injured, Nov. 28, 2016. The man, identified as Abdul Razak Ali Artan, plowed his car into a group of pedestrians and began stabbing people with a butcher knife Monday before he was shot to death by a police officer. Adam Cairns, The Columbus Dispatch, via AP

Columbus swat team members work to clear the Lane Avenue parking garage while the active shooter status remains in place around the campus at the Ohio State University. Joseph Maiorana, USA TODAY Network

A law enforcement official motions for people to leave the area outside of a parking garage on the campus of Ohio State University as they respond to an active attack in Columbus, Ohio. Paul Vernon, AFP/Getty Images

“He was a sweet kid,” Neises said as she got into her car in a steady rain Monday night. She said she is shocked by the news that he carried out the attack on the Ohio State campus. She compared it to getting hit in the face with a frying pan.

“He was very sweet and kind, he used to write me bravos all the time, he’d get a lot of them. He was employee of the month,” Neises said. She called him Artan. “Just Artan,” she said.

Columbus is home to a large Somali immigrant population, with more than 50,000 living in the city. Only Minneapolis has a larger Somali community.

Ohio State President Michael Drake urged everyone not to jump to conclusions about where the investigation might lead.

“We don’t know anything that would link this to any community,” he said.

While they didn’t speculate on a motive, police said they were confident at least some planning was involved in the attack. They said Artan intentionally drove the car into the crowd and brought a butcher’s knife with him.

Calls to police from the scene described the crash and an armed man running from the car, followed quickly by gunshots.

“A car just came barreling through,” one 911 caller said.

“He ran his car through a crowd of students,” said another. “We need an ambulance here fast!”

Police said the officer who shot Artan is Alan Horujko, a 28-year-old Cincinnati native who just joined the campus police last year. Horujko had responded to a report of a gas leak in the vicinity of Watts Hall when Artan’s car slammed into the crowd.

Authorities say they don’t believe the initial call is related to the attack, but they said it’s fortunate Horujko was on the scene. He immediately confronted Artan, they said, and shot him before he could stab more victims.